A California citrus association expects to pay $100,000 this month to cover pest control bills the federal government is no longer paying due to the federal shutdown, the group’s president said on Tuesday.

California Citrus Mutual agreed to cover the costs to ensure workers continue to monitor traps for the Asian citrus psyllid, an invasive insect that carries the deadly and incurable plant disease called Huanglongbing or HLB, said Joel Nelsen, the citrus group’s president.

Nelsen said the federal government has stopped paying the state government to perform the work.

Over the past decade, HLB has caused huge financial losses for citrus growers in Florida. Strong efforts funded by the federal government and the state’s citrus industry are underway to eradicate the citrus pysllid in Southern California, where it turned up in 2008.

The state’s first confirmed detection of the HLB disease was made in March 2012 in Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles County.

Nelson said a lapse in trap monitoring could have complicated efforts to combat the pest across the state, including in San Diego County, which has a $70-million a year lemon industry.

“If you leave your (pest eradication) program less than whole, you leave your industry vulnerable,” he added.

Nelsen said the federal government has agreed to pay back the association once the shutdown ends. He added that the state receives about $10 million annually from the federal government for operations to combat the bug, while the citrus industry contributes about $15 million annually toward the fight.

The Asian citrus psyllid is a brown insect about the size of an aphid. It attacks new citrus leaf growth and causes the new leaf tips to twist or burn back, according to the University of California’s Agriculture and Natural Resources website.

The disease causes shoots to yellow, assymetrical leaf mottling and abnormally shaped fruit with bitter juice. The disease can kill a citrus tree within 3 to 5 years, the website said.

Eric Larson, executive director of the San Diego County Farm Bureau said the lapse in pest control funding is “another frustration, another letdown” from the federal work stoppage, which has dragged out 15 days so far.

At this point, however, Larson said the government shutdown hasn’t had a major impact on the county’ overall agriculture industry, which was valued at $1.7 billion in 2012.

At the beginning of the stoppage, the federal government shut down several websites that provide farmers with crop pricing and inventory data. And a federal office that helps farmers with conservation measures also closed, Larson said.

“The farmers are like everybody else ---- They’re exasperated about what’s going on. But when it comes to actual operations of running their businesses, this is turning out to be more of a nuisance than any kind of crisis,” he added.